Trails of the Salt Pale
by mister-bittersweet
Summary: Salt is a great preservative for many things, be it the food that blesses the lucky, or the tragedy that forever changed a nation. For those souls born in North Ambria, salt is a reminder that the present was carved out of the tragedies of the past. OC-centric.


**November 25, 1204**

The cable car was devoid of any activity. While it was equipped with a staff, there was only a bare minimum number of workers, consisting of two engineers making sure the cable car functions properly, and one man stationed at the dining car. This line only connected the small town of Ymir to the main railway network, and was thus only being used by the locals who had business in Roer. Yet given the events that have transpired in Erebonia, it wasn't a good time for traveling. With war breaking out all over the country, people were fleeing to smaller towns like Ymir in hopes of not getting dragged into the conflict, as was the case with the four customers.

"We should be in Ymir in about an hour. Is there anything we should know about the town, Elise?" asked a brown haired teen.

"Like I've said before, Ymir is a tourist spot known for its hot springs," a young girl with jet-black hair said. "Given the war has broken out, the only people around should be the locals. It should be a good location for Her Highness to take refuge in until the war dies down."

"Ah," the blonde girl of the group sighed in ecstasy, "this would make the perfect premise for a damsel in distress story. A sadistic baroness and a cold-blooded jaeger, deceiving a beautiful maiden into thinking she needs protecting, only to be holed up in the baroness' mansion to serve as a toy of pleasure." The girl shivered in delight before continuing her premise, "After months of captivity, comes a bracer on a white horse, ready to challenge the sadistic duo and end their days of oppression."

This premise earned different responses from the other three in the group. The most calm reaction was that from the brown haired teen, the jaeger of the story. The blonde man, the bracer in the story, was rather flustered, though this had more to do with the blonde girl wrapping her arms around him after finishing her story idea. While the black haired girl blushed due to her role as the baroness, she still had enough courage to muster up a second reaction. "Your Highness, that's enough," the girl said before slapping the perverted blonde.

"My, my," the blonde continued to flirt, "Perhaps the role of sadistic baroness was more accurate than I thought."

"Forgive me, Your Highness, but as Major Vander would say, this was the only way to stop the spread of your stupidity."

"I'm offended," the princess said jokingly, "Major Vander deals with my brother on a regular basis. Are you're implying I'm as much of a hassle as Olivert?"

Elise, the black haired girl, averted her gaze towards the floor to avoid answering. Toval, the blonde bracer, started innocently whistling as he looked to the roof of the car, a trick he picked up from a fellow bracer. Only the brown-haired jaeger responded, "If Olivert's antics warrant a ten, then you're an eight."

"Dimitri, are you kidding me? At most, I'm a seven, and that's on a bad day."

"Considering how we first met, I'd say an eight is being generous."

"Now that you mention it, I didn't realize you were a jaeger at the time, and only learned about it after the fact," Princess Alfin admitted, "So were you there on some mission?"

Elise and Toval had enough tact to not pry into details like that, with Elise even nudging Alfin for her lack of subtlety.

"That's right, I was on a mission that ended in failure, which led to me being arrested, then led to me being hired by Prince Olivert."

"It's still kinda hard to picture," Toval jumped into the conversation, "Despite all of his quirks, I never would've assumed the prince would be willing to hire a jaeger to help out with Class VII."

"Seriously? He hired Sara, so is it really as big a deal as you make it out to be?"

"Well, yeah, Sara used to be a jaeger, emphasis on the past tense. Plus, it seemed like she was recruited to the Class VII project due to her experience as a bracer. You, on the other hand, were still with the corps when he hired you."

Dimitri already had assumptions on why the prince hired him, and spoke out about them to the other three passengers, "The prince may have known I was with the Northern Jaegers, and as a result, seen me as different from the stereotypical jaeger."

"Fair enough," Toval said, "I know the gist of the corps' situation, and how it formed in the first place. I also know the Northern Jaegers are something of an exception to how jaegers normally operate."

"What makes your corps so unique?" the princess asked curiously.

"Nothing," Dimitri said bluntly, "Whatever differences there are between us and other corps doesn't change that at the end of the day, we're jaegers. We do shady contracts all the time from taking hostages to assassinations. No sense of patriotism or tragic past will change that." Dimitri's cold response created an awkwardness in the passenger cart, which led to a time of complete quietness between the four travelers.

The silence of the train only stopped when the group arrived at their destination. Once the announcer gave the group permission to exit, Elise was the first to rush out the train, ready to bask in the comfort of her hometown.

"It's nighttime, we should head straight to your home for now," Dimitri reminded the giddy homecomer.

Elise nodded and then guided the others from the station to her home. Given the time of day, there wasn't anyone outside, and the noise made it apparent the locals were mostly gathered at the bar.

After following Elise to her house, she managed to knock on the door, after a few seconds frozen in excitement.

"Hold on, I'll be there," said a masculine voice, which caused Elise's tension to vanish as the voice made its way to the door. "So, do you need any-"

The owner of the voice paused as he registered the four people at his front door, but most importantly, the girl in front of the other three. "Lucia! Come quick!" the man yelled towards the inside of the house.

"Darling, what is it?" a black haired woman rushed towards the entrance, "Is something the mat-"

Her voice also stopped as she noticed the girl at the entrance, who then responded, "Mom, Dad, I'm home."

Those few words sparked a sense of joy in the couple, who proceeded to embrace the girl in a hug. "It's really you! You're finally home, Elise!"

"Your father and I were so worried, we heard what happened in Heimdallr, but had no clue what happened to you or Rean. But you can relax now."

"Mom, Dad, while I appreciate the sentiment," she was forced to pause as their hug limited her breathing, "We have guests with us."

"Oh, right, I'm sorry!" the man said as he and the woman broke out of their hug. "My name is Teo Schwarzer, and this is my wife Lucia Schwarzer."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, please make yourself at home."

The rest of the group did as Lucia asked and settled in the dining room, conversing with Teo while Lucia prepared tea for the group.

"I am in your debt for helping Elise escape the capital, especially given how hectic Heimdallr must've been."

"No problem," Toval said, "As a bracer, I'm used to escorting travelers. It helps when the client is good with a sword."

"I'm afraid I must apologize, Lord Schwarzer," Princess Alfin responded, "The reason it took so long to get here is because I was among their company. Elise, Toval, and Dimitri were all extremely cautious because they didn't want to risk my identity getting revealed."

"Don't fret your Highness, what's done is done, and the fact that Elise is safe and sound is what matters. But speaking of which," Teo paused as he moved his attention towards Dimitri, "Rean mentioned you when he came by. Your name's Dimitri Talstin, aren't you with Class VII as well?"

"Correct, though not in the same way as Rean and the others who visited a while back. I'm not a student, but rather the class' TA?"

"TA?" Teo seemed confused, "What does that stand for?"

"Teacher's assistant, I helped their instructor with her duties for Class VII. It's something new that was being tested this year, so it makes sense you've never heard of it."

"Still, given how traditional Thors has been, it's surprising they would implement a system like this," Teo said.

"I've heard plenty of criticisms from the other teachers, though two men in particular come to mind," Dimitri said, "Neithardt and Heinrich saw the whole TA position as an excuse for Sara to slack off and, as they would say, murder centuries of tradition by drowning it in a pool full of beer."

Toval couldn't contain his laughter at that, and let out his own opinion on the matter, "Seems like those two have some good judgment, it took an incident in Celdic for me to understand her penchant for slacking off."

"Now that you mention it," Teo said, "Rean wrote that he went to Celdic on one of his field studies."

"Correct, that was where he was sent on his first field study," Dimitri answered.

"Oh!" Teo seemed curious, "Any stories from that field study you want to tell?"

"Like I said, I'm the TA, not a student, I simply assigned the groups for the field studies."

"Groups? So it wasn't just everyone being sent to one location?" Teo asked.

"No, the class was split into two groups. That month, Rean was part of a group of four who went to Celdic, while the rest of the class went to Parm."

"Well, that must've sucked, not getting to travel even though you helped arrange the trips."

"I did travel as part of my role as TA, just not with the students."

"Oh, seems you do have a fair number of stories under your belt. So what did you do for these trips?"

* * *

**April 16, 1204**

"Well then, Mr. Talstin," said the school's principal, directed at a young man carrying a folder, "Could you explain why you assigned the groups the way you did?"

"Yes, sir. Instructor Sara only had one condition I had to follow, that Jusis and Machias be put in the same group. Ignoring those two, I split the groups so that people with similar weapons weren't put in the same group. For instance, Elliot and Emma both use orbal staffs, so if they were both put in the same group, the other group would be at a disadvantage due to a lack of support arts."

"Fair point," Principal Vandyck understood Dimitri's logic, "Perhaps we should make this a policy for the future field studies as well. What do you think, Sara? Should Elliot and Emma always be put in different groups."

"I don't see a downside to this," Sara said from behind Dimitri, "However, if those two start doing a Jusis and Machias impression, they'll be stuck in the same group until they settle their beef. Although to be fair, Prince Olivert taking a vow of celibacy sounds more likely than a feud between those two."

"As someone who was here when he attended Thors, I'm inclined to disagree. If only you saw what he did during his first school festival," the principal's voice seemed to darken as he recalled past trauma, "That radio station wasn't always a radio station."

"Anyway," Dimitri interrupted the principal's flashback, "Besides Elliot and Emma, I also put Laura and Rean in different groups because they're both sword wielders. As for the locations, I put Jusis and Machias in the Parm group because Celdic is part of the Kreuzen province, and Jusis could use his family's name to trivialize any conflict with the nobles."

"That's definitely for the best," Sara gave her two mira, "If Jusis was in Celdic, the provincial army would be on their best behavior so as not to offend the boss' son. It's possible that if we sent Jusis there, the army's dereliction of duty might fly under the radar."

"So far, the logic behind your decisions all make sense. The last thing I want to know is about the people you grouped together with Mr. Regnitz and Albarea."

"For one thing, I figured they would need all the help they can get, so I put them in a group of five. The other reason has to do with the surveys I handed out the other day, specifically an essay question I wrote."

"Crap," Sara realized, "This isn't about the last question, is it?"

"Yes, two people wrote yes to that question, so Jusis and Machias will be grouped with those two. I added a third person to even out the groups. What about it?"

"No one's dumb enough to agree to that!" Sara yelled.

"Hold on!" the principal yelled, "Would one of you bring me up to speed?"

"Three days ago I gave the students a survey to fill out about the quality of life at the dorm. Stuff they wish the dorm had, sanitation, things like that. At the end of the survey was an essay question that asked, 'Should Jusis and Machias be roommates?'"

The features of Vandyck's face gave no clue what he thought about the question. Only after seconds of silence did he speak on the matter, "I assume someone said yes, and thus was put into the group."

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Sara fought back, "You are definitely going insane, because there is no way that anyone with a shred of common sense would ever approve that."

"I have the surveys with me in this folder," Dimitri said.

Sara was quick to pry the surveys from his hand after he got them out of his folder. She analyzed each survey, skipping straight to the last page on each one and hoping her students had some sanity to them. Unfortunately for her, she found two surveys that approved the idea.

"On second thought, these two are getting what they deserve. I feel bad for the fifth member but tough luck."

"Back to the matter at hand, these seem like good groupings for Class VII's first field study. I approve the groupings as they are. The two of you are dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" both said in unison.

After leaving the principal's office, Sara nudged Dimitri's shoulder, "I need to talk to you about something else, we can talk in the courtyard." Given that Vandyck's office was so close to the door leading out to the courtyard, the two were able to head there immediately and discuss whatever Sara had in mind.

"So, what is it you need to discuss?"

"It's about another one of the duties you'll be performing as my TA. You'll be scouting out one of the locations we have in mind for next month's field study."

"So it's already decided?"

"Yes, as of now, the two locations are Bareahard and Saint-Arkh, the capitals of the Kreuzen and Sutherland provinces."

"What will I be doing?"

"You'll be performing duties similar to what Class VII was assigned, helping out the people, monster exterminations, that type of stuff."

"So what's the point of sending Class VII to these places if we're already doing the work?"

"That's just how much of a backlog there is at the moment. Plus, I also want to know if the two cities are safe enough for them to travel to without getting in serious trouble. They're the home bases for Duke Albarea and Marquis Hyarms after all."

"Will I be checking out both cities?"

"No," Sara answered, "I've assigned you to Saint-Arkh, while I'll be checking on the situation in Bareahard."

"So when will I be departing?"

"The 22nd, the day after the practical exam," Sara said with a certain smugness, "I want to see how they'll react to the groupings, and you'll be the one to tell them, my favorite little scapegoat."

Dimitri grimaced as Sara was full of glee, "Is that the reason you made me your TA?"

"One of several. It's also nice having a blast from the past here with me." This caused Dimitri to remember the old days when Sara was still with the corps. "So, is Emily still kicking?"

"I don't know, she was with me on the hit, but it's been months since then, I haven't been in touch with anyone else from the corps since then."

"As much as I want to say don't worry, I know how pointless it is," Sara said, "As a fellow North Ambrian, we're both too familiar with people dying. Even people I've admired and thought were invincible ended up dying to stuff we would see as mundane. So while saying something like 'have hope' would fall on deaf ears, I can at least say don't be a cynic."

"Well, I suppose you're proof of that."

"Wait, what?" Sara seemed confused.

"After you vanished all those years ago," Dimitri confessed, "I thought you had died during your mission, yet here you are, a bit too carefree compared to the old Sara."

"Yeah," Sara seemed embarrassed, "I know for a fact that the old me would be lecturing the present me for being a lazy drunk."

"Like Heinrich," Dimitri said.

"Yeah, like," Sara paused at a certain realization, filling her mind with disgust, "Oh, crap, I actually have something in common with that man."

"If we're talking about the past, shouldn't homeroom have started twenty minutes ago?"

"Well," Sara tried to act innocently, "I was in the meeting with Vandyck, so I have a valid excuse this time."

This slacker behavior made Dimitri wonder, was this the same Sara he grew up with back in North Ambria? In terms of appearance, yes, but it seemed like her time in the Erebonian empire had warped her personality.

* * *

**April 22, 1204**

Due to his experience in the corps, Dimitri was used to waking up early for the sake of missions. What he didn't expect was to find others from Class VII already up and about, as was the case with the man next door.

"Good morning, Dimitri," the black haired student greeted.

"Morning, Schwarzer," Dimitri answered back as the two walked toward the staircase.

"You know, I would get it if the instructors referred to me by my last name, but considering we're about the same age, would you mind calling me Rean?"

"I don't mind," Dimitri said, "But considering you're military students, you will need to adjust to it eventually, the sooner the better."

"Fair point," Rean conceded, "In that case, I suppose Schwarzer will do. But while we're on the topic, any other things I should adjust to now that I'm a military student?"

"A lot, too much for one conversation. Although to your credit, if you can consistently wake up early like today, then you're on the right track," Dimitri said as the two made their way to the first floor of the dorms.

"Thanks," Rean said, "Though this is more due to my sword training, so I'm used to-"

With Rean's sudden pause, Dimitri decided to ask, "What's wrong?"

"I only sensed one other presence on the boys' floor, and no one else is here on the first floor. Give me a minute."

With that, Rean darted back towards the stairs to check up on something. After roughly a minute, he came back, which made Dimitri question the man, "What are you panicking about?"

"Besides the two of us, there are only three others in the dorm right now."

"You do realize this is a military academy, don't you?" Dimitri didn't seemed worried like Rean was, "They may have woken up before us."

"Yeah, I know that," Rean said, "The problem is that besides Instructor Sara, the missing presences are all part of the Parm field study."

The revelation about who was missing seemed to annoy Dimitri, "Crap, pretty sure they all hate me after what happened yesterday."

"In their defense, you did force Jusis and Machias into the same field study group. And even worse, you forced Elliot, Laura, and Alisa to deal with their crap for a two-day trip."

"Three days," Dimitri corrected Rean, "Their first day will be the train ride to Parm, and their field study won't officially begin until the morning. In fact, it's technically a four day trip if you count the train ride back to Trista."

"And with that, you just doubled your douchebag rating. Seriously, what point were you trying to make by doing that?"

"I'll ask you some questions of my own, and that will be your answer," Dimitri told Rean seriously, "If those two can't settle their differences, then could you guarantee this wouldn't happen with someone else? What if some other noble pissed off Machias someday? What if Jusis starts getting pranked by that pink-haired girl, Linde?"

"It's Vivi who pranks people, not Linde, that's her sister," Rean was met with an annoyed pair of amber eyes, "But mistaken identity aside, I suppose it does make sense to put them together when you put it like that. But what if they don't manage to get along after the field study?"

"Then they'll be put in the same group until they can get along," Dimitri was quick to answer, frightening Rean with the headaches that would no doubt ensue all year.

"Well, sorry for taking up your time," Rean said as he went to the kitchen.

With nothing better to do, Dimitri decided to head for the station and get his ticket for Saint-Arkh. Being only a short walking distance, Dimitri went straight to the station without stopping anywhere else, only to be met by a surprise as he walked into the station.

While he expected Sara at the station, he didn't expect the Parm group to also be there, smiling creepily behind the teacher. "What are the five of them doing here?"

"No need to be so paranoid," the blonde archer said, "We just wanted to see off our favorite TA, that's all."

"But I'm your only TA."

"Ha ha," the green-haired gunner laughed, "That sense of humor is just one of your many qualities, isn't that right, Jusis?" refusing to say whether said quality was a positive, neutral, or negative one.

"Agreed," said the duke's son, somehow without snarking back at the gunner, "We came by because we prepared a care package for you on your trip."

"There was no need for that," Dimitri was confident this care package was created with killer intent.

"And there's no need for your concern," Laura said, "We made a homemade breakfast for you to enjoy on your trip."

"Here you go," Elliot said, making sure to force the basket of food onto Dimitri.

"I can say with confidence that this will be the most heartfelt breakfast of your life," Alisa said confidently, "We each made a dish of our own, so the love and admiration of five students is infused in every bite and drink you take." Dimitri was confident they had poisoned the food, and no way would these students be able to one-up a jaeger when it comes to poison.

Alisa went on to explain who made what, "Elliot and I both made the beverages. We didn't know what you liked so I made orange juice while Elliot made the coffee. Machias made a fish dish that's really popular in Heimdallr, Jusis made some tomato sandwiches, and Laura baked some cookies for dessert."

"See," Sara said, "Aren't our students so caring?"

"I guess it shows how much of an influence you've become," Dimitri said mockingly.

"I take that with pride," Sara boasted, "But before you leave, there's something else I have planned for your trip."

Dimitri knew she didn't have an airhead moment, rather she intentionally left him in the dark until the last second to surprise him, "What did you do?"

"Nothing, why do I have to be the bad guy here? Rather, I'm the good guy who decided to enlist some extra help for your sake. You've been so focused on me and the Parm group that you didn't bother checking the group to your right."

As Dimitri moved to the right, Sara explained the situation, "Those three students have been assigned to help you assess the situation in Saint-Arkh. They can handle their own introductions."

"Thank you, Sara," the white-haired student wearing a bandana said. He wore a green uniform, indicating he was a commoner, "The name's Crow Armbrust. I have several interests in the world, but if I had to limit it to three, those three would be casinos, women, and spreading chaos to teach all the law-abiding prudes a lesson in fun."

Though Dimitri was annoyed with the display of idiocy in front of him, the students of Class VII were taking joy in the idea of Dimitri getting a taste of his own medicine.

"Next up is me," said a cheerful girl with long pink hair, also wearing a green uniform, "The name's Vivi, and while I do agree with Crow's third interest, I'm gonna have to swap out the other two. Instead of casinos and women, I enjoy pranks and easily-flustered people, be it man or woman."

"Aidios, help me," said the third voice of the group, a man with short dark blonde hair in the white uniform nobles wore, "What type of teachers are reckless enough to green-light something stupid like this?"

"Now, now, Pattycakes," Crow said mockingly, "What type of introduction is that?"

"Enough with the nicknames," the noble growled in response. He then got up and gave a more proper introduction, "My name is Patrick Hyarms. As the name implies, I am a member of House Hyarms, the third son of Marquis Hyarms. If this trip is taking us to Saint-Arkh, then it only seems appropriate that I lead the group-"

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute," Sara interrupted the student, "I think I made it clear that Mr. Talstin here would be in charge of the group."

"Yes, but wouldn't it make more sense for me, a native of that region, to serve as the leader?"

"I don't know, would it make sense for a soldier to ignore orders from a superior? As a teaching assistant, he outranks the students. And if we're talking in terms of practical experience, he still outranks you."

"Just give it up, Patastrophe," Crow chimed in, "Take it from someone with personal experience, trying to argue with her is a suicide mission."

Despite his anger, Patrick was able to stay composed for the most part, "Just remember we're heading to my family's domain, so with me in your company, any affront of yours will be a reflection of House Hyarms."

"Understood," Dimitri said without emotion. He thought Patrick was making a big deal out of nothing, and thus didn't think this was worth starting an argument.

"Well, at least one of you understands the implications," the noble said while focusing on the two commoners behind him, clearly annoyed with what else he'll have to tolerate for the trip.

"Oh, we know," Crow said, "It's just easier to ignore it."

This earned another growl from Patrick. As this was happening, the students of Class VII were observing the scene alongside their instructor.

"Karma truly is a bitch," Elliot said trying to hide his joy at the TA's suffering.

"What I wouldn't give to watch the chaos that'll ensue from this travesty," Jusis said with laughter almost taking control of his body.

Sara thought it was wrong of her students to start developing sadistic tendencies so young, but if it meant Machias and Jusis would quit bickering for the time being, she would be more than glad to accept the sadism.

"The next train for Heimdallr will be arriving shortly, all passengers headed for Heimdallr, please be ready to embark."

Hearing the speaker, Dimitri went to get his ticket, while the students Sara assigned under his command headed for the gate, with their train arriving shortly after the announcement. The four embarked on the train headed for Heimdallr.

* * *

Dimitri didn't bother seeing off Sara and the Parm group as the train disembarked. While he knows Sara is like family to him, he knows the students despised him, and the proof lied in the picnic basket they shoved into his hands.

Dimitri decided to test out what sort of poisons the group used. Lucky for him, he was given three guinea pigs to test out this supposed breakfast. There was Patrick staring out the window, Crow was sitting in the opposite window seat, and Vivi was sitting directly in front of him. Odds are, the food was just something to make him sick, as they couldn't outright kill him without pissing off Sara.

"You can help yourselves if you want," Dimitri opened up the basket as an offer for the other three to sample the possibly poisoned breakfast.

"Dibs on the juice and cookies," Crow was quick to snag the box of cookies and the thermos labeled juice. As he squeezed the cookies, he seemed delighted, "Awesome! This is one of those stuffed cookies, isn't it?"

"Seriously!" Patrick seemed annoyed at Crow's antics, "Juice and cookies are the snack of an eight-year old, not the breakfast of a Thors' second year."

"Except those two girls made these dishes, that automatically makes me more interested in it than whatever that redhead and the Shouting Twins cooked up."

"So distasteful," Patrick said, digging out the tomato sandwich and the other thermos with the coffee in it, "The quality of food lies in the ingredients used to make it, not the woman you're trying to pick up."

Vivi decided to give her two mira on the bickering, "Looks like Pattycakes is still a virgin."

Unfortunately for Crow, Vivi said this right after Patrick took a drink of coffee, and Vivi's statement freaked out Patrick to the point where he spat out the coffee he just drank, "Thanks, Vivi."

"You're welcome, like you said, we both love sticking it to those boring law-abiders. Oh, fish!" Vivi was distracted by the last of the dishes in the basket.

Crow stayed silent, knowing he couldn't exactly go against his own personal philosophy without looking hypocritical. Instead, he focused his attention on Dimitri, "You sure you're good on food?"

"Positive," Dimitri answered back, "If I get hungry, I can just get something from the dining car." Though Dimitri didn't tell them, he was used to long periods of time without food. North Ambria wasn't exactly a country abundant with it. He had dinner last night, so he wasn't on the verge of death. The fact that he could skip a meal without fear of starvation was a blessing that would seem utopian to other North Ambrians.

The train ride between Trista and Heimdallr was only half an hour, yet that half hour was all it took for the food's effects to kick in. What Dimitri thought was an attempt to poison him just amounted to the students of Class VII being horrible cooks, which still technically counts as attempted poisoning. Luckily, his guinea pigs were there to consume all the poorly cooked food.

"You knew they were shit cooks, didn't you?" Crow groaned, half out of anger, and half out of the burning sensation in his mouth.

"No," Dimitri said, "I thought they were trying to poison me."

"That makes it worse, you asshole," Crow yelled as he grasped Dimitri's lower body, the pain restricting his volume.

"Focus, we're about to stop at Heimdallr," Dimitri tried to avoid the issue.

After the train stopped, Patrick was the first to rush out, "This station has to have a medical center."

"Linde," Vivi groaned, coming out after Patrick, followed by Crow, "I'm so sorry! If I make it through this, I promise to quit with the pranks."

"Whoa! Don't go insane, Vivi. There is no way in hell this food is gonna kill," Crow was interrupted by what felt like a sword stabbing his stomach, "On second thought, let's find that medical center Patatonic is so intent on finding."

There was an hour between the arrival time of the Heimdallr train and the departure time of the train headed for Saint-Arkh, so Dimitri had some wiggle time to help them get to a medical center. Luckily, a station as big as Heimdallr's is bound to have several to accommodate the number of people who go through it every day. They were able to find one close to the main platforms, so the students didn't have to suffer much.

As the three students were relaxing in the nearest medical center, Dimitri asked the nurse, "How much longer until they can walk normally?"

"Don't worry about it," the nurse said, "It's just food poisoning, a little medicine will have them on their feet."

"Good, we need to hurry or else we'll miss the transfer to Saint-Arkh." Crow chuckled in response to Dimitri's statement, prompting him to ask, "And what about this is funny?"

Crow answered by getting out a ticket from his coat pocket. He also asked Vivi and Patrick to get their tickets out, "Read these and you'll find out. Oh, I also have a letter from Instructor Sara."

Dimitri did as Crow said and analyzed the tickets. To his shock, he noticed an important detail lacking in their tickets, "There's no transfer to Saint-Arkh."

"Yup, our tickets were one-way, as in to Heimdallr and that's it. The instructor's letter will explain things."

Dimitri turned his attention to the letter Crow gave him and began reading it:

_Greetings, my precious assistant,_

_Hopefully Crow actually gave you this letter, Aidios knows how unreliable he can be at times. Not exactly who I would call the pinnacle of professionalism, yet that's exactly why I picked him as one of your subordinates for this trip. You're so used to everyone being professional and serious back in North Ambria, I'm betting you suck at improv. Thus, I picked three students who would force you to deal with something new and unpredictable. A shameless, flirty prankster, a gambling addict, and a stuck-up noble should all make for some great fun, the type that would put that by-the-book Neithardt in an early grave._

_Putting all of that aside, I instructed Crow to give you this letter in Heimdallr. I assume you now know their train tickets only covered the trip to Heimdallr, not the transfer to Saint-Arkh. Even if your ticket does cover a line change, you're also expected to look after those three, so you can't just ditch them at lost and found. Your first mission is to find a way to get all three of these morons to Saint-Arkh. The fact that you're in Heimdallr should also add some extra fun. Because now you have to make sure those three stay still in the country's biggest city while you find a way to get to Saint-Arkh._

_Yours truly, Sara Valestein_

The handwriting matched Sara's, so much that Dimitri doubted someone forged it. As Dimitri focused on what to do, Vivi asked, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Dimitri said, "All three of you just stay here while I handle the tickets." As he said that, Dimitri left the nurse's station and headed for the nearest ticket booth.

"Screw that," a voice said from behind him before he could get too far, "No way am I just gonna ignore the racetracks while I'm here in Heimdallr."

"Ditto," the loud girl said cheerfully, "There's so much fun to be had in the capital, specifically the thousands of gorgeous people afflicted with the curse known as 'being single.' It's my duty as an Erebonian citizen to liberate these unlucky individuals of their curse for the sake of the empire's future."

"Come on, Patricide," Crow dragged the noble onto his feet, "I'll show you the fun of the racetracks while Vivi here go finds herself a sugar daddy."

Patrick was unable to speak up, apparently still recovering from his breakfast. The most he could muster was a few groans.

"From personal experience," Crow chose to ignore the obvious, "People only moan in moments of pleasure and joy, so I'll take that as a yes."

"You guys can have your fun, but a word of advice from an experienced woman, when dealing with a sourpuss like Dimitri or Linde, the first thing you have to do is Scram!" she suddenly shouted her last word, which Crow took as a signal to drag Patrick into the nearest crowd. As for Vivi, she ran for the staircase that led outside the station into Vainqueur Street.

The two men ended up lost in the crowd of passengers, while Vivi proved to be naturally energetic in spite of the food poisoning earlier. And thus Dimitri thought to himself whether or not this tendency to make everything as insane and irrational as possible was some genetic defect common among Erebonians. He also wondered whether or not those three would get themselves killed doing Aidios knows what.

* * *

**Author's Note: And there's the first chapter of my story. So for those of you only familiar with the Cold Steel games who are confused, North Ambria is a country that was mentioned a few times in the games. The most obvious example is that it's Sara's home country, as well the home of the Northern Jaegers, the jaegers that attacked Ymir and Celdic in Cold Steel 2.**

**For those who played the Sky trilogy, North Ambria was covered in Star Door 2 of the third game, which gave a bit of a summary on North Ambria's situation, and I'll cover those details later on, while adding some extra details of my own. However, as far as I know, North Ambria has remained something of a side nation compared to everywhere else in Zemuria. I also doubt future games will focus on North Ambria, given there's other countries that haven't been focused on like Calvard, which is suppose to come next after the Erebonia arc. However, that seemed like wasted potential to me, as the situation in North Ambria seemed interesting and had a lot of story potential.**

**One big example of this is the Northern Jaegers and the moral ambiguity behind the corps' actions. If people read Star Door 2, they might see the corps as tragic due to the circumstances that led to them being formed. However, those who played the Cold Steel games would know them for Ymir and Celdic, which creates some dissonance between their motives and actions.**

**As for the story itself, I decided to write the story using _in medias res_ to avoid things seeming too repetitive. I've seen a lot of Cold Steel fanfics that start out with the prologue in the old schoolhouse, and while each fic had their differences, it's still hard to avoid that feeling that you're just reading the game you've played save for a few different scenes. It would also be an issue with student council work and field study assignments if they were exactly the same as in the game.**

**That's also a reason why I decided to have this group travel to Saint-Arkh, as the field studies Rean wasn't in weren't covered in the first game, so that should add some variety. I also know that the field study locations in Cold Steel III include the areas Rean didn't visit, and with that being released soon, I should be able to mention details about these areas without contradicting the games.**


End file.
